Systems, Methods and Automated Technologies for Translating Words into Music and Creating Music Pieces

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods and computer program products are provided for translating a natural language into music. Through systematic parsing, music compositions can be created. These compositions can be created by one or more persons who do not speak the same natural language.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to the field of music generation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Communication among people who live far away from one another and havedifferent cultural experiences can be rewarding. It can both helpindividuals to feel connected to the global community and allow them tolearn about other people. Over the past decade and a half, the Internethas enabled people who live thousands of kilometers apart to contact oneanother with relative ease and thereby has facilitated communicationover these long distances. This type of communication is particularlyattractive because people who cannot easily meet face to face can bothinexpensively and rapidly communicate over the Internet through emailsand in chat rooms.

Unfortunately, even with the increased availability of the Internetthere remains at least one significant limitation on the ability ofpeople from different countries to communicate. There is a lack of acommon language.

Music, which may be appreciated by speakers of any language, has thepotential to bridge the gap between persons who cannot communicatedirectly with one another. For example, audience members at an operaoften do not speak the language in which the opera was written yetthoroughly enjoy the performances. Similarly, it is not uncommon for asymphony to play to an audience that is comprised of members, some ofwhom, because of a language barrier, cannot communicate directly withone another.

However, other than the actors and musicians who are performing, thepeople at an opera or symphony passively experience the music. Moreover,audience members rarely communicate directly with one another. Thus, todate, music has been underutilized as a tool for bringing togetherspeakers of different languages to communicate and to collaborate.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to the use of technology to enablepersons to create music compositions. Through the use of the systems,methods and computer technologies of the present invention, one mayeasily and efficiently create music compositions from text. The musiccompositions may be created by one person or a plurality of persons whoshare the creative experience and/or the final product.

According to a first embodiment, the present invention is directed to anon-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium comprising aset of executable instructions that are capable of directing a computerto execute the following steps: (a) parsing a text message, therebyobtaining a parsed message comprised of a plurality of parsed wordelements in a word order; (b) accessing a database wherein in thedatabase a plurality of parsed word elements are cross-referenced to oneor more music elements; and (c) playing a music composition comprised ofa plurality of music elements, wherein the plurality of music elementsare arranged in an order that corresponds to the word order.

The parsing step applies a set of grammar rules, such as one or more ofthe following: removal of superfluous or undesired words; identificationand grouping of compound words; and identification of verb tenses. Theend of this step results in the creation of a sequential annotated arrayof word identifiers (i.e., parsed word elements) that are representativeof the music composition that will correspond to the text. In someembodiments, the result of the array for each word may, for example,comprise the following: <<word root>>, <<part of speech>>, <<wordtense>>, <<singular or plural>>, <<word prefix>>, and <<word suffix>>.For any of these variables that are not applicable for a particularword, the value in the array would be null.

Alternatively, a simpler array could be created that is {<<word>>,<<word>>,<<word>> and if the word is a verb, <<word/verb tense>>},wherein the verb tense change causes a change in playback such asreverberation.

The next step, accessing a database, calls for searching through adatabase that is a dictionary or library of pre-composed musicalphrases. The search is for a single pre-composed musical phrase that isassociated with each parsed word element (i.e., particular wordidentifier) in the annotated array. For any words that are not in thedictionary/library, the automated computer program product may execute aset of instructions that breaks the word identifier into its componentletters and replaces each letter with a musical phrase associated withthat letter of the alphabet.

During playback, in strict music meter (i.e. a preselected meter), theinstructions cause the triggering of each musical phrase that isassociated with each parsed word element in the annotated array. In oneembodiment, the music associated with each word is composed in multiplesof eighth notes. Thus, when the music elements are combined, they arecombined in increments of eighth notes, on eighth note boundaries, suchthat the meter (tempo, flow, beat, etc.) of the music is continuous,static, and regular. Persons of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the invention is also applicable when the predeterminedor preselected meter is other than eighth notes, e.g., half notes, wholenotes, quarter notes, sixteenth notes, etc.

Thus, for each word identifier in sequence, the instructions call forwaiting a specific number of music beats for the music phrase tocomplete; the number corresponds to the number of beats in thepre-composed musical phrase and the start of the next musical phrase forthe next word identifier at the next music beat opportunity. In someembodiments, some words are longer and some are shorter, but regardlessof the length, the next word starts at the next eight note opportunityafter the previous word completes.

The non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium may alsocontain executable instructions that are capable of playing the musiccomposition in metered time, tempo and/or pitch with short pre-recordedcompositions (also known as samples) of e.g., rhythmic percussion andinstrument sounds that automatically, seamlessly and continuously repeatin what is commonly know as a “loop”, until the music composition iscomplete.

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium may also contain aset of executable instructions that further comprises instructions forattaching a file to an email or to an SMS message, wherein the filecomprises the music composition and the textual message.

According to a second embodiment, the present invention is directed to amethod for translating a text message into a music composition. Thismethod comprises the steps of: (a) receiving a first text messagecomprised of words inputted through a user interface; (b) parsing thetext message through an automated computer parsing program to obtain aparsed message comprised of a plurality of parsed word elements, whereinsaid plurality of parsed word elements are in a word order thatcorresponds to the order of the text; (c) accessing a database thatcorrelates parsed word elements to one or more music elements; (d)creating a music composition, wherein the music composition comprisesmusic elements that correspond to the parsed word elements and the musicelements are in the order of the parsed word elements; and (e)outputting the music composition in a format that may be converted intoaudio output and/or stored in digital or analog form.

According to a third embodiment, the present invention is directed to asystem for enabling a plurality of users to create a music composition,wherein the plurality of users comprises at least a first user and asecond user, said system comprising: (a) a first computer, wherein thefirst computer comprises (1) a first graphic user interface; (2) a firstcomputer program product, wherein the first computer program productcomprises: (i) a first text parsing module; (ii) a firstcross-referencing module, wherein the first cross-referencing module isoperably coupled to the first text parsing module; and (iii) a firstmusic output module, wherein the first music output module is operablycoupled to the first cross-referencing module; and (3) a first portal,wherein the first computer is capable of transmitting a first messagethrough the first portal and receiving a second message from a secondportal; and (b) a second computer, wherein the second computer comprises(1) a second graphic user interface; (2) a second computer programproduct, wherein the second computer program product comprises: (i) asecond text parsing module; (ii) a second cross-referencing module,wherein the second cross-referencing module is operably coupled to thesecond text parsing module; (iii) a second music output module, whereinthe second music output module is operably coupled to the secondcross-referencing module; and (3) a second portal, wherein the secondcomputer is capable of receiving the first message from the firstcomputer through the second portal and transmitting the second message.A computer is considered to comprise a computer program productregardless of whether the computer program product is stored on thehardware of the computer, as part of software that is reversibly engagedwith the computer (e.g., a removable disk), or remotely obtained from awebsite. A non-limiting example of a computer is a smart phone. A “smartphone” is a mobile phone offering advanced capabilities such as e-mail,internet access, music, video, game applications and a keyboard, oftenwith computer-like functionality. In some embodiments, one or more ofthe following features may be present: (1) the ability to translateinput from one language to another language, prior to parsing; (2) theability to trigger an accompanying background music track that plays inthe same music meter or a different meter as the sequenced musicphrases; (3) the ability to assign different audio playback effects,such as distortion of the musical phrase of each verb and verb objectbased on the tense of the verb; and (4) the ability to substitutepre-composed music phrases with equivalent pre-composed music phrasesthat are played with other musical instrument sounds (timbres), keys andtempos and at the same time substitute any accompanying background musictrack with other keys and tempos that match those selected for thepre-composed musical phrases. When the translation function is used, andthe music composition is created from a single natural language, theword order and thus the music order will be consistent. Thus, even ifusers input portions of the conversation in different languages and thetwo language have different grammatical rules, the output music will notchange if the user herself translates a sentence into, for example,English, or if the translation module does it.

Alternatively, in embodiments in which two or more different naturallanguages are translated into music, because of the different rules ofthose languages it is possible that the order of the elements of themusic output will change based on the language that was used for input.

Through the computer readable storage media, methods and systems of thepresent invention, one can facilitate the creation of music, as well asengage a plurality of persons to collaborate on the creation of amusical composition. By using a set of grammar rules that simplifiescomplex language constructions so that translations of words or phrasesare consistent or normalized across multiple languages, the presentinvention creates a user friendly way to convert text to music.Furthermore, in some embodiments, the musical words may be arranged inmetered time so the music flows without breaks, regardless of whetherthere is a change in author. The musical melody dialogue can be combinedin metered time and pitch with different pre-recorded loop compositionsof different musical genres, (e.g., rock, reggae, jazz, etc.) therebyefficiently synthesizing the musical words melody into composite musicalpieces. These musical pieces can be shared in a chat room or sent byemail or attached to a smart phone, cell phone text message. The filesmay also be saved in MP3 format.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a representation of the overview of a system and process ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a representation of a methodology of certain processes of thepresent invention.

FIG. 3 is a translated musical piece that shows the text words to whichthe parts of a music score corresponds.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Through the use of the systems, methods and computer storage medium ofthe present invention, one may create music compositions and facilitatethe communication and collaboration between speakers of differentlanguages.

According to a first embodiment, the present invention is directed to anon-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium comprising aset of executable instructions. A “non-transitory tangible computerreadable storage medium” may also be referred to as a computer programproduct, and includes hardware, software or a combination of the two onwhich one may store a set of instructions that may be used to direct acomputer to perform a set of steps. Examples of non-transitory tangiblecomputer readable storage medium include, but are not limited to, a harddrive, a hard disk, a floppy disk, a thumb drive, a computer tape, ROM,EEPROM, nonvolatile RAM, CD-ROM and a punch card. Thus, in someembodiments the instructions are software stored on a medium that caninstruct a computer device having one or more of the following hardwarecomponents: memory, storage, an input device, an output device and acentral processing unit.

The instructions are capable of directing a computer to execute thefollowing steps: (a) parse a text message, thereby obtaining a parsedmessage comprised of a plurality of parsed word elements in a wordorder; (b) access a database wherein in the database each of a pluralityof parsed word elements are cross-referenced to music elements; and (c)play a music composition comprised of a plurality of music elements,wherein the plurality of music elements are arranged in an order thatcorresponds to the word order. The instructions for each of these stepsmay be stored in one computer program or a set of computer programs ormodules that are operably coupled to one another. The phrase “operablycoupled” means configured or otherwise designed to permit interactionand operation in the intended manner for the intended purpose. Theinstructions may be written in any computer language that permits theinstructions described herein to be activated and to accomplish theirintended functions. Examples of suitable programming languages include,but are not limited to, JAVASCRIPT and ACTIONSCRIPT.

A text message is a message that is created in a language. Typically, atext message contains words that are all part of the same language thathas rules such as syntax. These types of languages may be referred to asnatural languages. A text message could be a word, phrase, sentence,paragraph or longer. Examples of natural languages include, but are notlimited to, English, Spanish, French, Italian, German, Greek, Hungarian,Czech, Polish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Russian, Hebrew, Urdu, Hindi,Portuguese, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, etc. (A “textmessage” is not limited to messages sent by SMS technologies.)

In some embodiments, the text message is formed from words in one of theaforementioned languages. In other embodiments, a user creates a textmessage that contains words from two or more of these languages. Thetext message could also be created through a pictorial language such asPECES (“Picture Exchange Communication System”) or a sign language suchas American Sign Language, if there is either an appropriatelyconfigured parsing set of instructions to receive this type of input, ora translation module that will translate these forms of inputtedmessages into a natural language that can be parsed.

The parsing instructions direct the computer to apply a set of rules tothe text message in order to standardize it, and to pick up syntaxclues. For example, in English the parser may remove articles such as“an” or “a” or “the.” In some embodiments, the parser may also reviewthe message and appropriately designate parts of speech such as adverbsor infinitives or gerunds. The result of a parsing functionality is aset of parsed word elements. A parsed word element may, for example, bea meaning of a word or the part of speech of a word. A parsed wordelement may also be referred to as a “token.” Thus, any word may have aplurality of word elements or tokens. The parser may recognize the startand end of a word to be parsed based on the white space that surroundsthat word.

Parsing may, for example, be accomplished through the use of a lexicalanalyzer. Automated systems for parsing natural language are known topersons of ordinary skill in the art. Some lexical parsers employautomated morphologic (which refers to the structure of words),syntactic (which refers to the structure of sentences) and semantic(which refers to the meaning of words) analysis techniques in order toextract and to process grammatical and/or linguistic features of anatural language. The parsing is performed based on a set of rules asdefined by the target language. A description of known strategies ofautomating analysis natural language systems is described in thebackground of U.S. Pat. Pub. No. 2008/0319735 at paragraphs[0002]-[0007], which is incorporated by reference as if set forth fullyherein.

Example 1 below provides a set of parsing rules that may be employed.

In some embodiments, the instructions may contain one parsing modulethat is configured to parse only one natural language. Alternatively,there may be a plurality of parsing modules that are configured to parsea plurality of natural languages. In those latter cases the parsingmodule may contain a language identification module that determines thelanguage or a user language selection module that permits a user toselect the language in which parsing should occur.

In other embodiments, there is a translation module or set ofinstructions that is capable of translating a text message from a firstlanguage, (for example, Spanish) to a second language, (for example,English) and then parsing the translated message based on the Englishtext. In embodiments that possess this translation module, a user whoenters the message in English could skip the translation step while auser who types in another language could activate that feature.

The result of the parsing may be referred to as a parsed message. Theparsed message retains the word order of the text message. Each unit ofthe parsed message may be referred to as a parsed word element.

Pursuant to the instructions embodied on the computer readable storagemedium, the computer accesses a database that may be either local orremote. Some users prefer to work locally and not maintain connectionsto networks or to a website. Accordingly, a user when first gainingaccess to the product may either download it from a website or installoff of, e.g., a disk. Other users may, due to memory constraints, preferto work on-line, and thus the database may be stored remotely.

The database is configured such that for each parsed element there is anassociation with a music element. A music element may be comprised ofone or more music notes.

In some embodiments, the database may be a dictionary or library ofpre-composed musical phrases that are stored in digital playback filesthat contain each musical phrase. In other embodiments, the annotationof the array of musical phrases contains each individual componentmusical note of the phrase instead of the phrase in its entirety. Inthese cases, the playback method triggers each individual note and waitsfor the appropriate duration of the individual component musical notebefore triggering the individual notes instead of triggering eachpre-composed musical phrase.

After each parsed word element of the parsed message has been associatedwith a music element, a music composition may be formed that comprisesthe music elements. The instructions for generating the composition mayinclude a first in, first out protocol such that the first parsed wordelement in generates a first music element, and the second parsed wordelement in generates the second music element out, etc. For words thatare in the database, music elements may be defined not by the sound ofthe word, but by its meaning and in some embodiments one or more of itssyntactic elements, such as part of speech and/or relationship to otherwords. If the word is not in the database, then a new set of one or moremusic notes or elements may be created for that word. The new set ofmusic notes or elements may be determined by a standard protocol thatis, for example, based on the phonemes of the word or the new set ofelements may be selected from a predefined list of choices or the newset of elements may be created by a user.

The dictionary may also be defined such that synonyms have the same setof music elements associated with them. For example, the same musicelement may be associated with the words BIG and LARGE. Similarly, theremay be a consistent music element to show the future tense of a verb.

The system may further be defined such that for each word in the wordtext there is a set of one or more music elements such that the set hasa duration of 0.25 seconds to 3.0 seconds.

After the music composition is generated, the instructions, whenfollowed correctly, cause the computer to play the composition. In someembodiments, there is a preset standard tempo, meter and rhythm for theinitial playing of this music. The technology for playing music througha computer is well known to persons of ordinary skill in the art.

According to a second embodiment, the present invention is directed to amethod for translating a text message into a music composition. Themethod comprising the steps of: (a) receiving a first text messagethrough a user interface; (b) parsing the text message through anautomated computer parsing program to obtain a parsed message comprisedof a plurality of parsed word elements, wherein the plurality of parsedword elements are in an order; (c) accessing a database that correlatesparsed word elements to one or more music elements; (d) creating a musiccomposition, wherein the music composition comprises music elements thatcorrespond to the parsed word elements and the music elements are in theorder of the parsed words; and (e) outputting the music composition inan audio format. This method may be based on the instructions of thefirst embodiment.

The output may also be saved locally on a hard drive or on a disk orremotely over a network. The system may be configured to save any one ormore of the text message, the parsed message and the music composition.In some embodiments, it may be worth saving at least the text message sothat it will be editable at a later date.

According to a third embodiment, the present invention is directed to asystem for enabling a plurality of users to create a music composition,wherein the plurality of users comprises at least a first user and asecond user. For convenience, additional users may be referred to as athird user, a fourth user, a fifth user, a sixth user, etc.

The system comprises: (a) a first computer, wherein the first computercomprises (1) a first graphic user interface; (2) a first computerprogram product, wherein the first computer program product comprises:(i) a first text parsing module; (ii) a first cross-referencing module,wherein the first cross-referencing module is operably coupled to thefirst text parsing module; and (iii) a first music output module,wherein the first music output module is operably coupled to the firstcross-referencing module; and (3) a first portal, wherein the firstcomputer is capable of transmitting a first message through the firstportal and of receiving a second message from a second portal; and (b) asecond computer, wherein the second computer comprises (1) a secondgraphic user interface; (2) a second computer program product, whereinthe second computer program product comprises: (i) a second text parsingmodule; (ii) a second cross-referencing module, wherein the secondcross-referencing module is operably coupled to the second text parsingmodule; (iii) a second music output module, wherein the second musicoutput module is operably coupled to the second cross-referencingmodule; and (3) a second portal, wherein the second computer is capableof receiving the message from the first computer through the secondportal and of transmitting the second message through the second portal.

The systems of this embodiment may use the methods and products of theprevious embodiments. For example, a first user sitting in New York,whose native language is English, may activate his computer through afirst graphic user interface. Examples of graphic user interfacesinclude, but are not limited to, keyboard activated, mouse activatedand/or touch screen activated computers, cellular telephones andtelevisions.

The computer may be a tool for accomplishing electronic communications.Thus, it may have specific software, including a browser that alsostandardizes communication with network servers. The server may be anydevice that is capable of receiving, delivering and sending emailmessages that are sent to it. Thus, a server may comprise a storagedevice, an input device, an output device, a memory device, a processorand a communication interface. The server may also be configured to hosta chat room or to cause a chat room to be hosted on an http site at aremote location.

An input device is any device that may be used to input, to select andor to manipulate information. By way of example, input devices include,but are not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, a graphic tablet, ajoystick, a light pen, a microphone, and a scanner. An output device maybe any device that enables a computer to present information to a user,and includes, but is not limited to, a video display, a printer, and anaudio speaker.

A communication interface is a tool for receiving input and sendinginput. Thus, it is or is part of a portal or is operably coupled to aportal. By way of example, communication interfaces may include but arenot limited to a modem, network interface card and requisite softwaresuch as for protocol conversion and data conversion to communicatethough e.g., a LAN, WAN or otherwise over the Internet. A “portal” is amethod, system or apparatus for connecting to a network. For example, aportal may be a means of accessing the Internet.

A memory device is a device that can store, retrieve or facilitate theretrieval of data. By way of example, a memory device may comprises oneor more of Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), amagnetic drive, a Digital Vidio Disk (DVD) drive, or removable mediastorage.

A processor is the part of a computer that can execute instructions andmanipulate data. An example of a processor is a central processing unit.

In first user's natural language, which may be English, the first usermay input a text message and activate a first text parsing module, whichis located either locally on his computer or remotely over a network orat an http site. After he activates the parsing module, the message isparsed into parsed word elements. Next a cross-referencing module isactivated that assigns one or more music elements to each parsed wordelement. After parsing is complete, a first user output module may beactivated either automatically or only after receiving appropriate inputfrom the user that he wishes to hear the music. The music output maythen use the computer's hardware to generate an audio output of themusic through, e.g., a speaker system.

The first user then, if the computer program contains the requisitemodule, may have one or more additional features. For example, there maybe a store or save function that enables him to store the musiccomposition. There may be an edit function that enables him to changethe tempo, pitch and/or meter of the composition. There may be aninstrument selection function that allows him to select the instrumentsto be used during a playback. There may be a combine feature that allowshim to select from previously stored music, music that will be played atthe same time or before or after the created composition. There may alsobe a display function that allows a user to simultaneously display hisnatural language message while playing the music. Further, there may bea feature that allows the text message to be displayed in one or morechosen languages.

There may also be a share feature. The share feature may enable sharingat one or more times. For example, in some embodiments, the sharefeature may enable the music composition to be sent over the Internet.In some embodiments, the text message may be shared instead of or inaddition to the music composition. In other embodiments, the parsedmessage may be shared. In other embodiments, the share feature accessesa chat room.

A second user may be the recipient of the shared information, either viae-mail or the chat room. In some embodiments, the second user does notspeak English. She would, however, be able to appreciate the musicalcomposition.

The second user, after receiving the text message could respond with herown text message. (The first user's message may be referred to as afirst text message, and the second user's message may be referred to asa second text message.) The system may be designed such that the twotext messages become linked, and are capable of entering the parsertogether to form a jointly created composition. The system may bedesigned such that upon entry of the second text message, the musiccomposition that corresponds to only the second text message is playedwhile both the first user and the second user can play the music thatcorresponds to both the first text message and the second text messageas a single music composition.

The system may be designed such that if the first user's text is enteredin a first language (e.g., English) and the second user's text isentered in a second language (e.g., Spanish), the system firsttranslates the second user's text into English and then links the twotexts such that any stored text is all in English. Alternatively, thesystem may be designed such that the second user's text may be linked tothe first user's text while in Spanish, and the composite text may bestored with part in each of the two languages. Regardless of how thetexts are linked and stored, in some embodiments, each user has theability to review all messages in one or more languages of his or herchoosing.

Although the above embodiment is described with reference to two users,a larger plurality of users may work on the same composite piece. Forexample, there may be three, four, five, six or more than six users whoare part of the same conversation and thus whose texts can become partof the same music composition.

In another embodiment, system and methods for translating words intomusic and synthesizing composite musical pieces is provided. In thisembodiment, there may be an Internet website that permits amulti-participant chat room. As people in the chat room enter text ontheir local host computer, and as the local host computer plays textfrom remote chat room participants, the text is translated into musicand the corresponding text-to-music composition is played on the localhost computer, with optionally the related text being displayed in oneor more language as chosen by each user. Any pre-composed music phrasefiles to be played that are not found on the local host computer may bedownloaded from an Internet file server and then saved on the local hostcomputer in a cache for later reference. Messages from different chatroom participants are queued to play sequentially.

In some embodiments, the system may be created such that after a textconversation in converted into music, the music output is seamless and alistener could not be able to determine who generated which text. Inother embodiments, there may be playback effects that can be selected todenote the different texts by for example, tempo, pitch, meter ortimbre.

Through the computer readable storage media, methods and systems of thepresent invention, one can facilitate the creation of music, as well asengage a plurality of persons to collaborate on the creation of amusical piece.

Various embodiments of the present invention may be further understoodby reference to the accompanying figures. FIG. 1 is a flow chart thatrepresents an embodiment of the present invention. Through a userinterface 1, a user inputs a text message. A computer applies a textparser to the text message 2. After the message has been parsed, thecomputer accesses a dictionary 3, in order to assign a music element toeach token of the parsed message, thereby forming a music compositionand output the music 4.

FIG. 2 is another representation of a method according to the presentinvention. According to this method, the computer acquires a naturallanguage phrase, which may include a conversation from two or morepersons 5. To the natural language phrase, the computer applies grammarrules 6. These rules may, for example, remove articles and other syntax,determine verb tense, identify the part of speech of a word, analyzewhether a word is a compound word, etc.

Next the computer may access a database 7. The database may be indexedby parsed word elements that are cross-referenced to music elements.Accordingly, the database may be searched 8. During the search, a queryis made as to whether the word as parsed is in the music worddictionary. If so, a musical element may be assigned and added to (or ifit is the first word start) the music composition 9.

In some embodiments, one may collect an entire language phrase orconversation and then translate the phrase or conversation. Each musicelement that corresponds to the parsed word elements may then be addedto a music buffer. After the entire phrase or conversation has beentranslated and added to the queue it may then be played. The process maybe rapid, and for example, take a few milliseconds or less, such as onthe order of nanoseconds. In other embodiments, users who participate ina conversation may elect to have only a portion such as the most recentstatement be translated or played.

If the word is not in the word dictionary, a second dictionary may beaccessed 10. This second dictionary may for example be a music letterdictionary that may be used to create a string of notes to generate amusic element. The music element may be added to the composition 11.

If there are more parsed words to translate, the translation portion ofthe method may be repeated. Upon completion of translation, the musicmay be played 12.

The uses of the present invention include but are not limited tocommunication and collaboration between people who speak differentlanguages. Although there is no limit on the ages of persons who can usethe device, upon reading this disclosure, one can readily see howparents and schools would want to encourage their children and studentsto work with other children and students in distant countries. One canalso readily appreciate the benefit to students with special needs.

Additionally, various displays and graphic effects can optionally beincluded in the various embodiments of the present invention. Forexample, a user may select from a library of still or video images,background images to be displayed with the music composition.Additionally, or alternatively, a user identification module may beincluded that attaches a user's geographic location (such as one or moreof country, county, province, city, state, zip code, street) and amapping module. Thus, when two people collaborate and a first user sendshis composition to a second user, the second user will learn theidentity of the first user. Moreover, in some embodiments, when thesecond user reads the first user's text and/or hears his composition, amap may appear, identifying the first user's location. The first usermay opt to include a picture of himself when transmitting his text orcomposition that could be viewed by the second user. Alternatively, thesystem may be designed such that as a default or through user election,the user remains anonymous.

Also as noted above, the users may participate in a chat room, and belogged into the chat room at the same time, such that they cansimultaneously be creating their music pieces. In these cases if thereis a user identification module, users may see what the other has typedand sent immediately after its been sent, as well as the identity of thesender. Because there can be an unlimited number of exchanges betweenusers, a lengthy conversation can be had. An entire conversation can betranslated into music according to the various embodiments of thepresent invention, regardless of whether done live in a chat room ortime delayed because users take part at different times.

When users speak different languages, they may opt to view theconversation only in their natural language, only in the language oftheir partner or both. Because translation and display occur locally,the system can be adjusted such that different users don't know in whatlanguage other users view or input messages.

In some embodiments, the systems and methods of the present inventionare utilized on a client server. A user may first go into a web browser,but then download the program onto a user's computer. Thus, parsing andconverting may be done locally.

EXAMPLES Example I Parsing Rules

Below is a set of parsing rules, one or more of which may be used in thevarious embodiments of the present invention.

1.0 Articles

“The”, “a” and “an” are ignored. e.g. I have the (a) book=I have book.

2.0 Prepositions

“To” and “at” are ignored, e.g.

I am going to the movies tonight=I go movies tonight.

Send the song to me=Send song me.

I will be at home=I home (+future effect).

3.0 Verbs

Various forms of verb conjugations will not be translated to music, onlypast and present effects on simple present forms of the verbs will be inthe musical form of the chat.

3.1 Tenses: Past and Future Tenses are Signified by Standard Effects(Reverb, Echo) Applied to the Simple Present Tense Verbs (and SomeObject) Sounds, e.g.

I went to school today=I go (+past effect) school today.

We played after school=we play (+past effect) after school.

We will go to school tomorrow=we go (+future effect) school tomorrow.

(+past) means the past tense sound effect and (+future) means the futuretense sound effect.

3.1.1 Verbs Ending in “ing”

Verbs ending in “ . . . ing” will have a separate musical sound thantheir simple present verbs.

3.2 Auxiliary (Helper) Verb Usage

“To be,” “to have” and “to do” when used as helpers are ignored.

3.2.1 To Be

The forms of the verb “to be” in the present tense (am, are, is) areignored, e.g.

I′m from Peru=I from Peru.

I′m American=I American.

We're going to eat=We going eat.

I′m reading the book=I reading book.

The show is tonight=Show tonight.

She is a great composer=She great composer.

The forms of the verb “to be” in the past (was, were) and future (willbe) are ignored, but they trigger past and future effects depending onthe text that follows. If followed by a verb ending in “ . . . ing” theeffect is applied to the verb; if followed by an object (e.g. I wasthere), the effect is applied to the object e.g.

We were playing in the park yesterday=we playing (+past) in parkyesterday.

They will be moving next week=They moving (+future) next week.

We were going to go to the movies yesterday=We going (+past) go moviesyesterday.

I will be in Los Angeles=I in Los Angeles (+future).

Will you be there?=You there (+future)?

Will your friends be there?=Your friends there (+future)?

When the phrase in the form of a question, “will be” is separated by apronoun or noun and the future tense sound effect is applied to theobject after the “be.”

The “?” symbol has a musical sound that finishes a question phrase.

3.2.2 To Have

The verb “to have” is used like a normal verb only when it doesn't workas a helper (connected to another verb), e.g.

I have a computer=I have computer.

We had a party=We have (+past) party.

They will have a pizza=They have (+future) pizza.

“Have been,” “had been” or “has been” when used to describe a locationare replaced by “go (+past)”, e.g.

I have been to New York=I go (+past) New York.

We should have been there=We should go (+past) there.

If they had been at the show=If they go (+past) show.

When used as a helper verb “to have” is a) ignored, but triggers a pasttense sound effect, or b) tied to the verb “must” when used as “haveto.”

a) ignored, but triggers a past tense sound effect

To have is ignored when conjugated with other verbs,

have+verb (in past tense)

have been+verb(ending in . . . ing) had+verb (in past tense)

had been+verb(ending in . . . ing),

and will always trigger a past tense sound effect on the verb thatfollows e.g.

We have played the game=We play (+past) game.

They had been working on the song=They working (+past) on song.

b) tied to the verb “must” when used as “have to”

“Have to, has to, have (has) got to”—all have the same sound as “must”e.g., I have to go now=I must go now.

“Had to, must have and should have”—all have the same sound as “must”but will trigger the past effect on the following verb e.g. We shouldhave finished our homework=We must finish (+past) our homework.

“Will have to”—has the same sound as “must” but will trigger the futureeffect on the following verb e.g., We will have to save the songtomorrow=We must save (+future) song tomorrow.

3.2.3 To Do

The verb “to do” behaves like a normal verb when not used as a helperfor another verb, usually with a past or future tense effect e.g.

I will do the mixing=I do (+future) mixing.

We did the job=we do (+past) job.

As a command it is present tense, e.g., Do it=Do it.

When used as a helper before other verbs “to do” it is ignored—thishappens in questions and negatives.

E.g. In a question—

Do you want to play?=you want play?

Did you go to the movie?=you go (+past) movie?

Does your friend want to play?=Your friend want play?

E.g. In a negative—

I don't want to play=I no want play.

We didn't go to the movie=We no go (+past) movie.

Note: “no” and “not” have the same sound.

When it follows auxiliary verbs (except “will”) “do it” is ignored, e.g.

We can (could/should/would) do it=We can (could/should/would).

Should they do it?=Should they?

When “do” follows “will,” “do” is used with the future tense soundeffect.

We will do it=We do (+future) it.

We will do our homework tomorrow=We do (+future) our homework tomorrow.

Will they do it?=They do (+future) it?

3.2.4 Can, could, May, Might, Ought, Shall, should, would, Must and Will

These auxiliary verbs and conditionals have rules.

Can, could, may, might, ought, shall, should, would and must all havetheir own music sound and on their own do not trigger tense effects.

“To be able to”=“can.”

I′m able to, he/she is able to, they're able to, we're able to=I, he,she, they, we can.

The negatives—could not (couldn't) and would not (wouldn't)—trigger pasttense in the verbs that follow.

“Will” has no sound and always triggers future tense in the verb orobject that follows. “Will” on its own it becomes “do (+future) it”.e.g. I will I do (+future) it.

3.3 Plural Effects

Plural of nouns will be the single noun sound plus an effect.

4.0 Sample Musical Phrases: Prophetic Examples

By way of example, Nicolle may be sitting in Paris, France andparticipating in a conversation with David in Los Angeles, Calif.Nicolle may be a native French speaker and she may choose to type inFrench. David, on the other hand, may be a native English speaker andchoose to type in English.

David may log onto a chatroom and type: “Nicolle, are you there?”

Nicolle, who is already on line and bilingual may have selected to viewthe query in English and in French. She may input the following messagein French: “Je suis ici.”

After Nicolle sends the message, David's computer may automaticallytranslate the response into English, and because he does not speak anyFrench, he may elect a display only in English mode, such that on hisscreen, he sees the following response: “I am here.”

By way of further example, David and Nicolle may continue theirdiscussion in the chatroom. Thus, David and Nicolle have logged in andsee each others' avatars on screen, where David is typing in English,and Nicolle is typing in French. Because Nicolle speaks both English andFrench, she has elected to see Dave's text displayed on her screen inEnglish. Because Dave does not speak French, he has elected to seeNicolle's text displayed on his screen in English.

As soon as either participant completes a phrase by typing and pressingthe ENTER key, the program simplifies the grammar; substitutes twoletters for any word not found in the grammar list; finds a file indexfor each word or letter in a simplified grammar list; and for each fileindexed cues one or more music elements to be played on bothparticipants computers concurrently with the text being displayed. Theconversation and processing of the conversation appears below. Theparenthetical that follows “song” denotes the cueing for the particularportion of the conversation in an mp3 file.

Dave: Hi Nicolle! How are you?

-   -   simplified grammar: hi nicolle how you ?    -   indices: 1153_D (hi) 1568_D (letter n) 1206 D (letter i) 1194 D        (how) 2728 D    -   (you) 1842_D (question mark)    -   song: (conversation1.mp3)

Nicolle: Really great. How are you?

-   -   simplified grammar: really great how you ?    -   indices: 1876_D (really) 1053_D (great) 1194_D (how) 2728_D        (you) 1842_D (question mark)    -   song: (conversation2.mp3)

Dave: Good, good, very good. When are you coming to California?

-   -   simplified grammar: good good very good when you coming to        california ?    -   indices: 1045_D (good) 1045_D (good) 2553_D (very) 1045_D (good)        2633_D (when) 2728_D (you) 440_D (coming) 2431_D (to) 276_D        (letter c) 0_D (letter a) 1842_D (question mark)    -   song: (conversation3.mp3)

Nicolle: Next week for sure!

-   -   simplified grammar: next week for sure    -   indices: 1588_D (next) 2628_D (week) 969_D (for) 2317_D (sure)    -   song: (conversation4.mp3)

Dave: What would you like to do?

-   -   simplified grammar: what you like to do_ft ?    -   indices: 2632_D (what) 2728_D (you) 1429_D (like) 2431_D (to do        future tense) 705_D 1842_D (question mark)    -   song: (conversation5.mp3)

Nicolle: Let's see the zoo.

-   -   simplified grammar: let see zoo    -   indices: 1409_D (let) 2049_D (see) 2733_D (zoo)    -   song: (conversation6.mp3)

Dave: OK let's plan on it!

-   -   simplified grammar: ok let plan on it    -   indices: 1637_D (ok) 1410_D (lets) 1745_D (plan) 1639_D (on)        1268_D (it)    -   song: (conversation7.mp3)

The combined song (conversation1.mp3 through conversation7.mp3) withbacking music loop may be stored as conversation.mp3. The score is shownin FIG. 3 with, for reference, the words that correspond to the notes.

This application discusses specific embodiments of the presentinvention. The specific features described herein may be used in someembodiments, but not in others, without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as set forth in the foregoing disclosure.However, unless otherwise specified or apparent from context, anyfeature described as being used in connection with any one embodiment,may be used in any other embodiment. Further, it will be appreciated bythose of ordinary skill in the art that the illustrative examples do notdefine the metes and bounds of the invention. For example, the presentinvention should not be limited by software/program, computingenvironment, or specific computing hardware.

1. A non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium comprisinga set of executable instructions that are capable of directing acomputer to execute the following steps: (a) parse a textual message,thereby obtaining a parsed message, comprised of a plurality of parsedword elements in a word order; (b) access a database wherein in thedatabase each of the plurality of parsed word elements arecross-referenced to a music element; and (c) play a music compositioncomprised of a plurality of music elements, wherein the plurality ofmusic elements are arranged in an order that corresponds to the wordorder.
 2. The non-transitory tangible computer readable storage mediumof claim 1, wherein the set of executable instructions further comprisesinstructions that are capable of directing a computer to store saidmusic composition.
 3. The non-transitory tangible computer readablestorage medium of claim 2, wherein the set of executable instructionsfurther comprises instructions that are capable of directing a firstcomputer to transmit the textual message to a second computer.
 4. Thenon-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium of claim 3,wherein the set of executable instructions further comprisesinstructions that are capable of directing a computer to display thetextual message at the same time that it plays the musical composition.5. The non-transitory tangible computer readable storage medium of claim1, wherein the set of executable instructions is capable of playing themusic composition in metered time.
 6. The non-transitory tangiblecomputer readable storage medium of claim 5, wherein the set ofexecutable instructions is capable of playing the music composition inmetered pitch.
 7. The non-transitory tangible computer readable storagemedium of claim 6, wherein the set of executable instructions is capableof playing the music composition with a pre-recorded loop composition.8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 1,wherein the set of executable instructions further comprisesinstructions for attaching a file to an email or to an SMS message,wherein the file comprises the music composition and the textualmessage.
 9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim1, wherein the set of executable instructions further comprisesinstructions for translating from a first natural language to a secondnatural language.
 10. A method for translating a textual message into amusic composition, said method comprising the steps of: (a) receiving afirst text message through a user interface; (b) parsing the first textmessage through an automated computer parsing program to obtain a parsedmessage comprised of a plurality of parsed word elements, wherein saidplurality of parsed word elements are in an order; (c) accessing adatabase that correlates parsed word elements to one or more musicelements; (d) creating a music composition, wherein the musiccomposition comprises music elements that correspond to the parsed wordelements and the music elements are in the order of the parsed wordelements; and (e) outputting the music composition in an audio format.11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the user interface is asmart phone.
 12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the firsttext message is in a natural language.
 13. The method according to claim10 further comprising outputting the music composition in metered time.14. The method according to claim 10 further comprising outputting themusic composition in metered pitch.
 15. The method according to claim 13further comprising outputting the music composition in metered pitch.16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the music compositionfurther comprises a pre-recorded loop composition.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 16 further comprising receiving a second text messageand parsing the second text message, wherein the music compositionfurther comprises music elements that correspond to the parsed wordelements of the second text message.
 18. A system for enabling aplurality of users to create a music composition, wherein the pluralityof users comprises a first user and a second user, said systemcomprising: (a) a first computer, wherein the first computer comprises(1) a first graphic user interface; (2) a first computer programproduct, wherein the first computer program product comprises: (i) afirst text parsing module; (ii) a first cross-referencing module,wherein the first cross-referencing module is operably coupled to thefirst text parsing module; and (iii) a first music output module,wherein the first music output module is operably coupled to the firstcross-referencing module; and (3) a first portal, wherein the firstcomputer is capable of transmitting a first message through the firstportal; and (b) a second computer, wherein the second computer comprises(1) a second graphic user interface (2) a second computer programproduct, wherein the second computer program product comprises (i) asecond text parsing module; (ii) a second cross-referencing module,wherein the second cross-referencing module is operably coupled to thesecond text parsing module; (iii) a second music output module, whereinthe second music output module is operably coupled to the secondcross-referencing module; and (3) a second portal, wherein the secondcomputer is capable of receiving the first message from the firstcomputer through the second portal.
 19. The system of claim 18, whereinthe second computer program further comprises a translation module thatis capable of translating a text message from a first natural languageto a second natural language.
 20. The system of claim 19, wherein thesecond computer program is capable of permitting the second user to viewthe text message in either the first natural language or the secondnatural language or both the first natural language and the secondnatural language.